Edmonton Oilers: Good Luck Chuck of the NHL

Over the years the Oilers have a had a number of players that had a great deal of potential, but never really formed into the player that management and Oilers fans hoped they would turn out to be. It was a common theme to drag the player along through their woes, trying to milk any ounce of promise that may be left in his game. General managers and coaches would tug on that rope so hard, trying to create them into the player they projected; but rarely they came through. That rope would eventually break, and the confidence, value, and overall game of that player had plummeted. That is usually when the Oil would trade that player or let them walk to free agency.

In some cases, like Nail Yakupov, the player would continue their lackluster play and struggle to be a consistent NHL'er. But in an alarmingly large number of cases, players leaving the Oil would have great success. Career years, improved stats, rejuvenated careers, and even some Stanley Cup rings. It has gotten to the point where it seems as soon as a player leaves Edmonton, they reset as a professional athlete and become what the Edmonton faithful had hoped.

This all reminds me of a movie: Good Luck Chuck starring Dane Cook. The story revolves around the idea of this man who just can't seem to find "the one". Cursed since childhood, every girlfriend he has eventually dumps him, then goes on to find love in the next relationship they have. Regardless of his actions or intentions, every woman he is ever with continues on to find true love with someone else, immediately after being with him. It is a curse! Sound familiar?

I'm going to break down some of the players who benefited from the Oilers' "Good Luck Chuck" capabilities, and perhaps why they were let go and the different kinds of success they found after playing in Alberta's capital. This is from the 2005 lockout and on.

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Taylor Hall

Why not start off with the easy one shall we? To be fair, Taylor didn't necessarily NOT meet expectations of Oil fans and management. As a first overall pick in 2010, and the first of four top picks for the Oil, Taylor played on a lot of bad Oiler teams. He was often the only light of hope, as basement teams collected loss after loss, Taylor's reckless and exciting style was a treat to watch most nights. He could never stay healthy though, which may be attributed to his reckless style, OR the fact that the franchise brought him in at 18 like they have with all their first overall picks (eye roll). He really only played two full seasons (75 games in 2013-14 and 82 in 2015-16) which was a major reason he could never hit the 30 goal mark in Edmonton.

We all know the horrible trade that sent him to New Jersey for Adam Larsson, but I don't think any of us predicted the kind of success he would have in this past season. 39 goals, 93 points, and Hart Memorial Trophy winner as the NHL's most valuable player. Only in his second season not wearing the blue and copper, Hall showed his TRUE potential, something he never could do in Edmonton. A season that will haunt Peter Chiarelli and Oilers fans for years. But hey, maybe Adam Larsson will win the Norris next year......

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Joffrey Lupul

The Medicine Hat Tiger and Fort Saskatchewan kid only played one season in Edmonton, but it was not a pretty one. Right out of the gate Lupul had high expectations, considering he had been traded for one of the main reasons the Oilers had made the playoffs the season prior: Chris Pronger. The Oil must've liked what they saw out of the young forward when they played against his Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the Western Conference Finals in the 2006 playoffs. Lupul was brought in from Anaheim along with Ladislav Smid for Pronger (don't worry, I'll get to him) along with some picks, one of which that turned out to be Jordan Eberle. Anyway, Lupul never really fit in with his hometown team. Despite playing a full season, Lupul only had 16 goals and 28 points in the 2006-07 season, along with a career worst plus/minus of -29 for him. He was traded away in the offseason to Phildelphia along with Jason Smith for Joni Pitkanen, Geoff Sanderson, and a third round pick.

Lupul had some injury problems out of the gate in Philly, and ironically enough was traded back to Anaheim once again for Chris Pronger. Lupul eventually landed in Toronto and got past his injury problems (for a few seasons) where he was a prolific scorer along with Phil Kessel. Lupul had 20+ goals four times after leaving Edmonton despite all his injuries, has been over a point per game player twice, and has made an all-star game appearance. He also played 30 playoff games in that stretch. Although Lupul never really panned out to be an amazing player, he wasn't what the Oil had hoped he would be and found greater success later on in his career. As mentioned, he was -29 in his one year as an Oiler, the next nine seasons in Philly, Anaehim, and Toronto his total plus minus was -31. So... yeah, definitely was not a fit in Edmonton.

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Chris Pronger

Felt the need to bring up Prongs after the Lupul thread. Perhaps one of the best defencemen to ever play the game. A threat at the offensive blue line with his bomb from the point, and absolute bully in his own end. He could play 30+ minutes a night, terrorizing the opposition at both ends of the ice. Pronger was brought in from St. Louis for Eric Brewer, Jeff Woywtika, and Doug Lynch. He was 31 at the time and already a seasoned vet with a Norris Trophy under his belt. I'm not afraid to say without Prongs there is no way in hell the Oilers make it to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. I don't think there is anyone else you can say that could claim that accolade, except maybe Dwayne Roloson. That's why it was such a bummer to see him go in the offseason after that magical playoff ride. There was a lot of rumors and speculation around why he left; he knocked up a weather lady, his wife didn't like Edmonton, etc... Whatever it was, Pronger got a quick ticket to Southern California and another run to the Stanley Cup Final with Anaheim. This time around, he won the cup.

Pronger only went on to play six more seasons in the NHL, three with Anaheim and three with Philadelphia. The biggest cut to Oilers fans came the season immediately after their cup final birth, when Pronger raised the cup in 2007 with an Anaheim Ducks sweater on. Pronger made the cup final again in 2010 with Philly, but lost to Chicago in six games. It just seemed like team success followed this guy everywhere he went. Aside from his two first seasons in the league with the Hartford Whalers in the mid 90's, every team Pronger played on in St. Louis, Anaheim, Philly, and of course Edmonton made the playoffs.. 15 straight post-season showings! Guy was a beast that could carry his team to playoffs and cup finals. Nonetheless, he didn't win a cup until after his stop in Edmonton, interestingly enough the season immediately after he left the Oil. Good Luck Chuck at full force.

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Jarret Stoll

Speaking of guys that won the cup after they left Edmonton....I am personally a huge Stoll fan. He was great at faceoffs, good at both ends of the ice, and had a lethal one timer. That guy broke so many Easton Stealth sticks during his time in Edmonton. Originally drafted by Calgary in 2000, he re-entered the draft in 2002 and was selected by Edmonton, so right away you got to like the guy - telling Calgary to kick rocks in contract negotiations. He had four solid seasons in Edmonton, and actually had his career high in points with 68 in the 2005-06 campaign. He unfortunately fell short of the ultimate prize that same season with the game 7 loss to Carolina in the finals.

The 2007-08 season was a weird one for Edmonton. They were active in free agency prior to the season, signing Sheldon Souray and Dustin Penner, and offer sheeting Thomas Vanek (Buffalo matched). They had a strong showing in March, pushing for a playoff spot and only finishing a couple points short for ninth place in the western conference. They also had a couple promising young rookies, Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano. The success of these two and the team's commitment to Shawn Horcoff had put Stoll's spot on the team in limbo. He was traded in the 2008 offseason to Los Angeles along with Matt Greene (also went on to win two cups - the curse) for Lubomir Visnovsky - an offensive d-man that could run a powerplay, something the Oilers felt they needed.

Although Stoll never surpassed his point totals he reached in Edmonton, he found his niche in Los Angeles. This was especially true after LA acquired both Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, allowing Stoll to find his spot as third line center. It was in that role Stoll helped the Kings win not one, but two Stanley Cups. His second cup in 2015 was the peak of his career, as his career took a turn for the worse in the offseason right after that victory. He was charged in Vegas for drug possession (c'mon, let the guy celebrate), and struggled to find success after signing a one year deal with the New York Rangers. He was eventually waived and picked up by the Minnesota Wild. He never gained traction, only getting a tryout with Columbus the season after, where he was eventually released. Stoll is currently a scout for the Kings, and is also married to ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews...so he's still a winner. Good for you, Jarret.

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Devan Dubnyk

Doooooooooob. Any Oilers fan who has followed this guy's success in Minnesota is really shaking their head. Not that Cam Talbot isn't a good goalie, but Dubnyk has proved that he can be a Vezina candiate quality goaltender....only of course, after being traded out of Edmonton. He started out as a backup, mostly to Jeff Deslauriers after Nikolai Khabibulin had injury issues. Dubnyk's record was usually around the .500 mark for most of his time in Edmonton, before the wheels completely came off in the 2013-14 season. Dubnyk was struggling heavily, but it wasn't just on him. Management had failed to give him a reliable d-core to help him out. Relying on Justin Schultz as a shut down guy just doesn't work in the NHL (foreshadowing). The Oil's lethal forward group with Hall, RNH, Eberle, Perron, Gagner, and Hemsky weren't enough to ease the load and therefore improve the record for Doob. Remember this one? How could you forget...

As I mentioned, Oilers management carried out their usual treatment, waiting until Dubnyk's value was at an all time low to trade him, only acquiring veteran forward Matt Hendricks in a trade in the midst of the 2013-14 season. Dubnyk had a long path back to NHL starter, with stops in Nashville, Montreal, Arizona, and also AHL appearances in Milwaukee and Hamilton. He was eventually traded to Minnesota halfway through the 2014-15 season where he was to become the starter. With a rejuvenated style of play learning from Arizona's goalie coach and legend Sean Burke, Dubnyk completely turned his career around. His first game in a Wild uniform was a shutout performance. He then made an outlandish 38 straight starts for the club, going 27-9-2 with a 1.78 goals against average, .936 save percentage, and four shutouts to boot. Originally 8 points out of a playoff spot when Dubnyk came to the Twin Cities, the Wild rode Dubnyk's success all the way to a playoff birth. Dubnyk was a Vezina Trophy finalist as well on some Hart Trophy ballots (finished fourth in voting). He also won the Bill Masterson trophy for his perseverance in turning around his career. His numbers haven't been as good as they were in the latter half of that season, however he is still a consistent goaltender and a bona fide NHL starter the Wild rely on heavily. Doob has been able to post 32, 40, and 35 wins in the three consecutive seasons since he was traded, respectively. Nothing against Talbot, but it would sure be nice to have this version of Devan Dubnyk in an Oiler uniform these days.

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Justin Schultz

Ahhh... Jultzy. So much promise. So much excitement. So much disappointment. This one was definitely one of those situations where the development is not as much on the player as it is on the franchise and management. Schultz was one of the most highly touted free agents coming out of the University of Wisconsin after he elected not to sign with the team that drafted him (Anaheim...beauty move by Jultzy). Rumors said that up to 26 teams pursued in attempting to sign him, and the Oil pulled out the big guns with Gretzky and Coffey with their pitch to the young offensive d-man, and it worked. His first year in Edmonton was the lockout year, and he absolutely killed it in the Oilers AHL affiliate at the time, Oklahoma City Barons. He was joined alongside Hall, RNH, and Eberle as they all had the ability to go down to the minors during the lockout period with their entry level contracts. Once the NHL season began, Schultz scored in his second game, and showed signs of the offensive weapon from the blue line everyone talked about. He even had some ballot votes for Calder Trophy rookie of the year. Despite only playing the first half of the AHL season in OKC (the lockout ended, sending Schultz back up to Edmonton to play in the shortened NHL season), Schultz was awarded the Eddie Shore Award for best defenceman in the AHL after tallying 48 points in his 34 game stint in the AHL prior to any NHL experience. Insane.

As the seasons went on for Jultzy, the Oil relied heavily on him to play big minutes and his game started to dwindle. Management did a HORRIBLE job in bolstering the d-core, forcing Schultz to play against opposing team's best players, a style of game that Schultz was not (nor should he have been) prepared to play. In the 2015-16 season, Jultzy saw his worst offensive production of his short career. It was evident he had lost all confidence in his game at both ends of the ice, and was a staggering -22 in only 45 games with the Oil. Out of playoff contention and months away from free agency, Chiarelli traded Schultz to Pittsburgh in exchange for a third round pick.

Schultz struggled out of the gate in his new home, often getting healthy scratched. However, he began to find his game and was a helpful piece in the Penguins' first of two cups. He resigned in Pittsburgh one more year, where he would then have one of his best seasons in the NHL, tallying 12 goals and 58 points on a team that had Kris Letang (though he was injured half the year). He would then resign in the Steel City once again, this time for a whopping 3 year, $5.5 AAV deal. He has found his niche in Pittsburgh as a right-handed bottom 4, top PP d-man...something the Oilers are in desperate need of currently. Oh, the irony. Bottom line - guy is enemy number one in Edmonton, gets traded, wins the Stanley Cup a few months later, does it again the next year, and then signs a lucrative deal. Another episode of Edmonton's "Good Luck Chuck" curse.

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Any others you guys think fit into this category? Hemsky? Cogliano? Petry? Comment or tweet at me @EdmOilersTalk

Sources: www.NHL.com

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